Fuel Economy Standards Make Cars Less Expensive to Operate but Cost More to Purchase

Buying a new car or truck is about to become more expensive for consumers, but the high cost up front will save you money in the long run—or at least that’s the consensus from Consumer Reports. This credible consumer advocate is in strong agreement with the government’s new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations for passenger cars and trucks in this country.

The new regulations are set to save drivers thousands of dollars to operate cars, even though it will raise the cost of buying a new vehicle once the new standards are in play. Another intent of this new federal regulation update is to cut back on pollution from automobiles—a growing concern as pollution levels are rising to dangerous highs around the world. Consumer Reports also believes that these updates to CAFE will even create jobs while reducing oil consumption by Americans. This scenario seems almost too good to be true, after all, it’s the auto industry that’s created so many of these problems to begin with.

CAFE standards will be implemented with the intent to limit the amount of fuel cars consume and reduce carbon emissions of modern vehicles. The goal is that by 2025 there will be a reduction of half of the amount of carbon emitted by vehicles on American roads.

In order to make this a reality, the automakers have a long way to go; they must have an average of almost 55 miles per gallon amongst all the models they produce. However, not each individual vehicle will need to meet this particular MPG standard, so the average vehicles purchased and driven will not likely have that kind of fuel economy, but the overall economy will be dramatically improved. Some vehicles in the fleet will be super gas savers while others will average just better than they are now.

The phase-in for these new standards will take place in 2017, but you’ll probably start seeing improvements for all new models as auto makers begin making changes towards the CAFE goals.

These new standards and improvements will be reflected in the cost of a new vehicle. Consumer Reports predicts a $2,000 increase in the price tag of your car, but a saving of $4,600 on a longer timeline. They project an annual saving of $700 on gas; that means that in three years, the added MSRP costs will have paid for itself in fuel savings.

If auto manufacturers are successful and meet CAFE standards as planned, this will be a revolutionary change in the transportation industry—many think these updates are long overdue!